


Darkened Hearts and Golden Souls

by Cypress_Leaves



Series: DHGS [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Dusttale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Inktale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Killertale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Alternate Universe - X-tale (Undertale), Angst, Drama, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Incest, Last Two Should Only Be In Chapter One's Flashback Scene, M/M, Manipulation, Mental Coercion, Multi, Multiple Universes Colliding, Non-binary Nightmare, Nonbinary Character, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, POV Third Person Limited, Personal Interpretations of Characters, Reconciliation, Romantic Fluff, Shattered-centric, Sibling Incest, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Strangers to Lovers, Swearing, They/them Pronouns for Nightmare, Threesome - M/M/Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:29:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27698314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cypress_Leaves/pseuds/Cypress_Leaves
Summary: Shattered ends up in the original multiverse.Shenanigans ensue.(Summary is likely to change later.)
Relationships: Queerplatonic Bad Sanses Poly, Sans/Sans (Undertale), Shattered/Nightmare/Dream
Series: DHGS [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026855
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	Darkened Hearts and Golden Souls

He woke up incredibly disoriented.

  


_Holy shit._ His thoughts came sluggishly, and his head was throbbing with a vicious headache. _Holy shit,_ he repeated, dragging a hand up to knead at his forehead. _Feel like I’ve got a massive fucking hangover…_

  


Slowly, so as not to aggravate his headache, he pushed himself up to his elbows, narrowing his eye as he peered at his surroundings. A dark, gloomy forest loomed around him, silhouetted against the red-tinted sky. He was immediately on edge, struck with an innate feeling of _wrong_. The tips of his tendrils sharpened, their bases bunching up on his back, even as he used them to help himself stand. A pulse of agony hit his skull, and he hissed as he stumbled, barely catching himself on a nearby tree.

  


“ _Fuck_ ,” he groaned aloud, taking a moment to rest, leaning against the oak’s trunk. His fingertips sharpened into claws, digging into the wood.

  


_What the hell happened?_

  


The last thing he could remember was –

  


_“Brother, please-!”_

  


_A cackle interrupted the feeble plea._

  


_A tendril whipped forward._

  


_Its intended victim leapt backward, out of its range._

  


_“St-”_

  


_An arrow, shining dark violet instead of the bright blue it should’ve been, whizzed past, just barely missing its mark._

  


_“Dre-”_

  


_“ **No,** ” he interrupted smoothly, his voice deceptively calm, contrasting with the burn in his eyelight, the lashing of his tendrils, the extra dripping of his form. “ **No,** ” he said again, his teeth curling in a smirk, advancing forward, “ **He is gone. He won’t be coming back. Why, brother, why are you still unhappy? Why have you not accepted this yet?** ”_

  


_“I-”_

  


_Another tendril struck. This one hit, but only partially, leaving a bleeding cut on the ivory bones of the purple-clad skeleton’s left arm before retreating back to its owner’s body. Taking advantage of the skeleton’s momentary distraction as they clutched at their wound with their right hand, a second tendril grabbed their ankle and tugged, tripping them._

  


_“ **Nightmare.** ” His voice was a gentle coo, autumn leaves skittering atop concrete, the crackle of a flame reaching high for the stars. His smirk, sharp as a dagger, backlit a dark yet vibrant golden, widened when his brother’s pinched, distraught expression lifted to him. “ **Say my name.** ”_

  


_Nightmare’s teeth parted, but no sound came out._

  


_“ **Say. My. Name.** ”_

  


_He swallowed drily and closed his sockets, his inhale stuttering._

  


_“Sh-”_

  


_A violent shudder rolled over his body, forcing him to cut himself off. He took a deep breath and tried again._

  


_“S-Shattered.”_

  


_“ **Yes.** ” The murmured word was little more than a pleased hiss. A tendril curled under his brother’s chin. “_ **Who am I?** _”_

  


_“Shattered.”_

  


_Delighted, he grinned, the corners of his mouth edging into his cheekbones unnaturally. “ **Tell me, dear brother, what has happened to Dream? Where is he?** ”_

  


_Nightmare’s breathing hitched as he opened his sockets, staring up into Shattered’s viciously satisfied eyelight. He opened his mouth and–_

  


  


_Blinding white._

  


_It filled Shattered’s entire vision, placed a cotton filter over all of his senses. He might have stumbled, or he might have collapsed. He couldn’t tell what was happening; a ringing began to echo in his skull, first just the annoyingness of a humming mosquito at the edges of his awareness, before rapidly multiplying into something that made him want to scream and would’ve caused his ears to bleed, had he had any._

  


_Unconsciousness was a welcome relief._

  


– He jolted out of the memory with another pulse in his skull. Thankfully, this one didn’t hurt as bad. The migraine was fading away quickly, leaving him to wonder if it was just a temporary side effect of…whatever had happened to him. His browbones furrowed as he ripped his claws out of the bark of the tree he’d been leaning against. Nightmare hadn’t been the cause; he was too distracted to be able to pull anything off, too deep in his roiling emotions, and besides, none of his abilities matched with what had happened. There had been no one else nearby, leaving Shattered with no clues.

  


There was a hint of a frustrated growl on his exhale as he took a step back, glancing into the forest around him. He supposed he might as well explore the area. _Perhaps Nightmare is somewhere nearby?_

  


With a determined glint in his eyelight, he followed his instincts, turning just slightly to the left and starting his trek through the woods.

  


* * *

  


The longer he walked, the more on edge he felt.

  


He couldn’t tell what, exactly, was wrong, just that something _was_. This frustrated him to no end, his tendrils - sharpened in preparation for self-defense, just in case - violently whipping around in the air behind him. He was beginning to doubt that Nightmare was anywhere nearby; he couldn’t sense his brother’s emotions anywhere.

  


_No, wait._

  


His magic prickled. He froze, both heels planted firmly on the ground, his legs locking while his tendrils’ lashing increased.

  


There was… _something_ , just at the edge of his spreading aura.

  


No, there was some _one_ , based on the spiking emotions.

  


His stance shifted to one not unlike a curious cat, his limbs loose for easier maneuverability, his eyelight slitting as he allowed his aura to probe deeper. Now that he was focusing, he was able to untangle and sort out the emotions he’d sensed. Confusion and apprehension overshadowed a deeply fond exasperation and annoyance. However, when he pushed his aura out more, his senses were quickly overcome with hot anger. The feelings changed position, suddenly much more intense as their owner shifted from being a long distance in front of him to somewhere just behind him.

  


“I swear to f-”

  


Shattered’s tendrils lashed out faster than he could think, cutting the voice off. He expected them to slice through a body; he didn’t expect four more, nearly identical to his own, to parry the attack.

  


He spun around quickly, instantly zeroing in on the dark skeleton standing just a few feet away.

  


_Nightmare._

  


He stared for much longer than was necessary, his eyelight shrunk in surprise. _How…how the hell?_ Nightmare, _Nightmare_ , was standing there, in his corrupted form.

  


_Something’s wrong here._

  


After corruption, the dark goop could never truly be expelled. It, and the senses and thoughts that came with it, would always remain in its host’s soul. This meant Nightmare still had access to his corrupted form - if he wanted, he could change into it at any time, although not without a lot of pain - but it was a self-imposed rule that he tried his hardest to disconnect from his corruption. He would never willingly be in his corrupted form.

  


And yet here he was, goop and tendrils and everything, staring at Shattered with just as much, if not more, surprise.

  


“…What the hell?”

  


“You aren’t my brother,” Shattered said slowly, narrowing his eye as he scanned over Night- the corrupted skeleton’s form. Their goop rippled, the slightest bristle to their shoulders, before it smoothed.

  


“And you aren’t mine,” they replied, tilting their head. “Not from this multiverse, anyway.”

  


_Multiverse._ Shattered jolted. His magic pulsed and rippled in his soul, an almost snarky _“I told you so”_ as the reason for his sense of wrongness suddenly clicked.

  


“I’ve never really considered the existence of other multiverses,” they continued carefully. Their entire posture was broadcasting a lazy, calm wariness, but their aura was the exact opposite; it was clouded with a confusing maelstrom that Shattered was unable to sort through. “But I think this proves it, if you are indeed a Dream.”

  


He bristled, and when he spoke, his voice came out with a darker inflection. “ **I was.** ”

  


Nightmare nodded. “I thought so.” The slightest hint of unfocus entered their eyelight for a fleeting moment before it locked back on Shattered. “Come with me.”

  


He blinked in surprise when they turned their back to him - _Such audacity, do they not see me as a threat?_ \- and began walking away. After a moment, he hurried to catch up; they started talking again as soon as he did.

  


"So, what is it like in your multiverse?”

  


A pretty basic question; the kind of thing an inhabitant of an AU would ask someone of a different ‘verse. He supposed it made sense. The scenarios here were not much different.

  


“… Nightmare isn’t corrupted anymore,” he decided to start with, carefully watching the negative guardian out of the corner of his eye. A single tendril flick is all that hinted they were listening. He continued, “It happened after I ate one of the only leftover negativity apples.”

  


“Why?”

  


He paused and furrowed his browbones. “Originally, Dream just wanted to convey that he… _understood_ what Nightmare was going through. He thought becoming like him would help him understand.”

  


“Hmm.” Their hum was nondescript, giving no insight into their opinion on the matter. Smoothly, they changed the subject. “Your Nightmare used he/him pronouns?”

  


Shattered nodded. “You do not?” he guessed.

  


“No. They/them.”

  


He dipped his head respectfully, a silent gesture of understanding.

  


“What about you?” Almost as an afterthought, they added, “Do you use a name other than Dream?”

  


“He/him. I go by Shattered.”

  


“Very well.” They inclined their head ever so slightly. “We’re almost to my castle. Don’t mind the dumbasses when we get there.”

  


Shattered snorted. “A _castle_?”

  


Nightmare’s mouth curled in a sharp grin. “Indeed. I enjoy dramatics, going over the top. I don’t hide it.”

  


Silently, Shattered could admit the two of them were similar in that regard. It was no secret that he was a fan of theatrics. What had Ink used to call him? _A Bitch in Heels? The ultimate Karen?_ Probably both of those and more, if he really thought about it.

  


“When we arrive,” Nightmare continued, “I would recommend trying to look as unintimidating as possible. Coming in with me should make aggression less likely, but they’ve all got just a tinge of unpredictability.”

  


“What, do you doubt my ability to defend myself?”

  


Their smile took on a more sinister edge, and if Shattered didn’t know any better, he would even say that the flare in their aura was protective. “No, I have no doubt that you are a good fighter; fast reflexes, a lot of power. I fear for you if you hurt one of them.”

  


Shattered narrowed his eye at them, but they weren’t looking at him anymore. They were staring straight ahead, and after a few steps, they swept an arm out in a slight arc. “We’re here.”

  


A shadow fell over them, blocking what little red-tinted light that had managed to filter through the canopy above. He turned his attention away from Nightmare, gazing upward.

  


The first thing that crossed Shattered’s mind was, _Damn, that’s really goth._ He could find no better descriptor for the large mansion-like castle. It towered high overhead, easily five or six stories tall. The bricks were a dark, shadowy color; if he squinted, he could guess they were a nearly obsidian violet. Two large towers were connected to the main building, one on the east and the other on the west, rounded to contrast with the rectangular shape of the rest of the castle. A few stairs led up to a small field, lined with purple, silver, and black roses, which led to the large double doors made out of ebony wood that arched at the top, easily twice as tall as the average skeleton’s height of around five feet.

  


“Fucking hell,” he muttered under his breath. Nightmare laughed beside him, soft and deep, reminding him of the quiet trickling of a calm stream. “You weren’t kidding about being dramatic.”

  


“No, I wasn’t,” they agreed amicably. Then, just to prove their point, they curled an arm around their midsection while sweeping the other out behind them, body curling in a regal bow. “Welcome to my humble abode.” Their voice tittered with barely concealed laughter, their head tilting at a slight angle so they could see Shattered, grinning at the smirk on his expression. They straightened and nodded up at the doors. “After you.”

  


Shattered huffed quietly, angling his turn so he could still see Nightmare as he climbed up the stairs, glancing around at the unusually colored roses as he walked down the grass pathway. When he made it to the castle’s entrance, he didn’t hesitate in reaching out and gripping onto the metallic silver door handles, twisting them and pushing the double doors open. They were surprisingly light, considering their size.

  


“Remember what I told you,” Nightmare murmured behind him, unexpectedly close. Shattered twisted his head around to send them a light glare, tendrils agitatedly twitching. The negative guardian smiled saccharinely at him, that same almost-protective feeling spiking in their aura. _How odd,_ Shattered mused, turning back to the open doorway.

  


With a quiet sigh, he stepped inside the castle.


End file.
